Many types of spinal irregularities can cause pain, limit range of motion, or injure the nervous system within the spinal column. These irregularities can result from, without limitation, trauma, tumor, disc degeneration, and disease. One example of a spinal irregularity is spinal stenosis, the narrowing of a spinal canal, which can result in the compression of spinal nerves such as the spinal cord or cauda equina. In turn, the nerve compression can result in pain, numbness, or weakness. Spinal stenosis may be caused by one or more conditions such as development of bone spurs, thickening of ligaments, fractures, and disc degeneration (e.g., due to arthritis).
Treatment of spinal stenosis can include, for example, a surgical procedure to expand the spinal canal by modifying or removing at least a part of a vertebra, as in a laminoplasty, laminectomy, or corpectomy. In a corpectomy, the vertebral bodies of one or more vertebrae adjacent to the compressed nerve can be removed, thereby expanding the spinal canal. Subsequently, a cage or other prosthetic may be inserted into the resulting cavity and may be used to subsequently stabilize the spine, either alone or in combination with one or more additional devices such as rods, screws, and/or plates.